Declination by Gregory Ashe

Narrated by Charlie David

Note: The books in this series contain an overarching plotline and are best listened to in order. There are spoilers for books 1 & 2 in this review.

Declination, book three in Gregory Ashe’s Borealis Investigations series featuring private investigators North McKinney and Shaw Aldrich, picks up a few weeks after the cliffhanger ending of book two, Triangulation. Detective Jadon Reck – who had briefly dated Shaw – arrived on Shaw’s doorstep bloodied, beaten and with the words “He’s next” cut into his chest, a threat obviously directed at North – and obviously delivered because North and Shaw were getting too close to uncovering the truth about the West End Slasher, a serial killer responsible for the murders of several young gay men years earlier. Shaw, who was critically injured in the Slasher’s final attack, has never been convinced the right man was charged and incarcerated. Following the discovery of some new evidence (Orientation), Shaw has been trying hard to get to the truth, but the truth remains frustratingly elusive as he hits dead end after dead end – although clearly someone out there is rattled enough to have attacked Jadon in order to send that message.

The final chapters of Triangulation also saw a momentous shift in the relationship between North and Shaw who, after eight years of longing and denial, finally owned up to how they felt about each other and are now a couple. Gregory Ashe is one of the few authors whose books I read and listen to who doesn’t finish his stories at the HEA; like Hazard and Somerset, North and Shaw may be together now, but they’ve got things to work out if they’re really going to make it in the long-term. In this story, North finally comes to understand just how deeply affected Shaw has been, not only by recent events (when he fell for a client who tried to kill him) but by lingering trauma from the Slasher attack. The trouble is that Shaw has worked hard over the years to hide it and has been so successful that North hasn’t realised the true extent of the damage – and now they’re finally together, Shaw is still desperately trying to deal with his issues alone, fearing he could lose North should he ever find out just how screwed up he is.

When Declination opens, North and Shaw are bringing in a petty criminal to the Circuit Attorney’s office when they run into Jadon, who is recovered and back at work, but clearly not doing so well. Later that night, Shaw receives a call from Jadon’s work partner Detective Barr telling him that Jadon has been hospitalised following another attack – and that this time, he might not make it. When Barr tells them Jadon is rumoured to have been trying to commit suicide, Shaw is more convinced than ever that Jadon has been targeted because of his association with him and North and their search for the Slasher. Their dealings with members of the St. Louis PD’s LGBT Task Force in Triangulation led North and Shaw to suspicions of police corruption and cover-ups, and when new information comes to light – information that Jadon had clearly put himself at risk to obtain – Shaw knows they’re onto something big. North is seriously concerned, helplessly watching this dangerous fixation slowly turning the man he loves into a man he doesn’t know. He tries to get Shaw to take a step back, but Shaw won’t let it go. He needs to get to the truth, seeing it as a way of achieving some sort of closure and getting his life back – and of course, North isn’t going to let him walk into danger alone.

I really don’t want to spoil the plot, so that’s all I’m going to say about it! Mr. Ashe gets the balance between the suspense plotline and the relationship drama just about right here, propelling the story to an edge-of-the-seat climax and bringing his customary laser-sharp insight to the intricacies of the bond between the two leads. The Slasher storyline is wrapped up in a way I absolutely did NOT see coming – and which is actually a little heart-breaking in a way – and while Shaw doesn’t get closure in the way he’d perhaps expected, he does at last come to realise that he needs to stop allowing himself to be defined by something terrible and to re-make himself in the light of who he wants to be and the future he wants to have.

I’ve reviewed quite a few of Mr. Ashe’s books by this time, and it’s hard to find new things to say, especially when they’re consistently of such high quality! The mysteries – whether the individual ones that are solved by the end of each book, or the longer series arcs – are intricate, clever and tightly plotted as the author pulls together his various plot-threads to gradually reveal the bigger picture, skilfully balancing that with the ongoing character and relationship development at which he excels. North and Shaw are flawed, complex individuals who are very different in many ways, but who are nonetheless completely attuned to one another, their circuitous conversations and sharp banter moving at lightning speed and expertly conveying the strength of their personal connection – which is emphasised even more strongly by Charlie David’s terrific narration.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed listening to Mr. David in these books; he nailed both protagonists right from the beginning, his rich, deep tones and deadpan delivery a perfect fit for the cynical, physically imposing North, and the lighter, overtly carefree characterisation of Shaw containing just the right amount of wide-eyed innocence and biting wit. He gets them on an emotional level, too; one of my favourite things about his portrayal of North is the way he is able to inject so much into just a few words, talking Shaw off a ledge with a simple “Shaw,” that contains a wealth of meaning from “I’m here” to “I love you” to “stop freaking out”. He differentiates effectively between all the characters (the issues I noted in my review of Triangulation don’t recur here) and although his female voices aren’t the best I’ve heard, they’re far from the worst. His timing in the bantering exchanges between North and Shaw is impeccable, his pacing is good overall, his enunciation clear and best of all, he’s a terrific vocal actor; there’s an energy to his performance that helps propel the story, and he never loses momentum, even in the longer narrative passages.

Declination rounds out the Borealis Investigations series nicely, with Shaw and North in a good place and ready to move forward both professionally and personally. But this is obviously not the last we’re going to see of them; the book ends with the strongest of hints that there is more to come, and I, for one, can’t wait to see what Mr. Ashe has in store for them.

Caz

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